The Lord waits to be gracious to you…Blessed are all those who wait for him.(Isaiah 30:18)

We must think not only of our waiting upon God, but also of what is more wonderful still, of God’s waiting upon us. This will give new impulse and inspiration to our waiting upon Him. If He waits for us, then we may be sure that we are more than welcome-that He rejoices to find those He has been seeking for.

Let us seek even now, at this moment, in the spirit of lowly waiting on God, to find out something of what it means that the Lord waits to be gracious to us.(Isaiah 30:18) Then we will accept and echo back the message, “Blessed are all they that wait for him.”

Look up and see the great God upon His throne. He is love, with an unceasing and inexpressible desire to communicate His own goodness and blessedness to all His creatures. He longs and delights to bless. He has inconceivably glorious purposes concerning every one of His children, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to reveal in them His love and power. He waits wit all the longings of a father’s heart. He waits that He may be gracious to you. And, each time you come to wait upon Him or seek to maintain in daily life the holy habit of waiting, you may look up and see Him ready to meet you. He will be waiting so that He may be gracious to you. Yes, connect every exercise, every breath of life of waiting, with faith’s vision of your God waiting for you.

Yes, it is blessed when a waiting soul and a waiting God meet each other. Let waiting be our work, as it is His. And if His waiting is nothing but goodness and graciousness, let our be nothing but a rejoicing in that goodness, and a confident expectancy of that grace.

Andrew Murray

The whole story of the Bible reveals the desire of God to fellowship with His creation. From the very beginning we read that God came seeking humanity. Even after Adam and Eve had sinned, God came seeking.

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:8-9

How amazing is this love of God that He would come seeking us and then wait on us to respond. Many of us waited until we were adults before responding to the grace and love of God. We waited to finish living life our way before finally coming to God in surrender and receiving Christ as our Savior. All that time God was patiently waiting for us and the moment we moved toward Him, He moved toward us. What incredible love!

“See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].”

1 John 3:1-2

We read that it was God who sought our Abraham and started him on a journey with his father, Terah. We read that along the journey Terah stopped and God waited on Abraham until his father died to continue the journey. We read that Abraham waited on the promises of God and God waited on Abraham to walk with Him. So you see this wonderful relationship between God and Abraham of each waiting on the other. What a journey and what a story. Again this is for us. Most of the time we focus on our waiting on God. We wait anxiously for an answer to prayer, for God to work out a situation, for God to meet a need. But what about God waiting on us. We must remember that this relationship consists of both parties waiting on each other. So what is God waiting on? In the story of Abraham we find Abraham waiting on God for the expected promise of a son. We find God waiting on Abraham to fully trust and fully surrender himself to the plan and will of God. Those “waits” came together on Mount Moriah as Abraham took his long awaited son and laid him on the altar of sacrifice. That day Abraham went home with that long awaited son and God went home knowing He had a true friend. What a incredible picture of this waiting of relationship. I realize that most us feel that we’re the ones waiting on God to move and to answer, but have we considered that God is also waiting on us. Is God waiting on us to seek Him? Is God waiting on us to carry out His desires of making the whole world know about Christ and His love and grace? Is God waiting for us to completely surrender our wills so that He can work in us and through us as He wills? Is God waiting for us to return worship and thanksgiving to Him for all His goodness and forgiveness and provision?

In the New Testament we read that Christ waits on us.

2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.

John 14:2-3

When we know we are having guests coming to our home to stay for awhile, we prepare their room and we plan meals. And we wait expectantly, looking out the door at every sound until the finally arrive. This is the picture of John 14. This waiting and this seeking of Christ for us. Revelation 3 paints a vivid picture of Christ seeking and waiting for fellowship with us.

20 Behold, I stand at the door [of the church] and continually knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him), and he with Me. 21 He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant to him [the privilege] to sit beside Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down beside My Father on His throne.

Revelation 3:20-21

Will we answer the door? The answer is obvious for those who are waiting on God. Like those waiting their expected guest, we will rush to the door, fling it open and how sweet that moment of connection.

This is the ultimate, when a waiting heart meets a waiting heart. O let our hearts wait for God as He is waiting for us. Let us rejoice when that moment occurs for us and others when waiting comes to an end and nothing hinders any longer.

10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents [that is, changes his inner self—his old way of thinking, regrets past sins, lives his life in a way that proves repentance; and seeks God’s purpose for his life].”

Luke 15:10

Notice the exact words: joy in the presence of the angels. Who’s rejoicing? God is, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Why? Because their long wait for one sinner to come home has taken place.

Let us then wait upon this God who loves and waits on us till that moment when the wait is over.

Dr. John Thompson